NOV 2003 - #3

Discoveries by Paul Hahn

His name was Chuck Barnes.

No, Robin.

Nightwing.

Robin. Nightwing. Chuck. Nightwing. Robin. Robin. Chuck. Bucky? Robin. Nightwing? Robin.

After the brief fight with Kon-El, sometimes known as Superboy, Robin turned and headed deeper into the island. He hoped he had, at least, gotten something through to his teammate.

Something was definitely wrong. Paradise . . . was not what it should be.

"All Wrong" was what Cassie told him. Cassie Sandsmark, a.k.a. Wonder Girl, a member of Young Justice whom no one seemed to remember besides Robin. He had been struggling to remember, and he knew something was against him. He didn't know what, but there was something. There had to be.

The island had a fairly basic layout. It had clean, sandy beaches all along the perimeter, which were fairly large, but eventually led to a tropical forest. The forest started out thin and got thicker as you got closer to the center of the island. In the center stood a fairly large mountain, which was, at one time, probably the volcano that formed it. The mountain wasn't very steep, and one could find, for the most part, walkable paths up it. The mountain was littered with caves throughout, caves that, for the most part, had gone unexplored by the team. There were a few small clearings, cliffs jutting out from the mountain to provide stable places should someone want to take a break or camp out. The top of the mountain was just a tip, and could not really be reached to stand upon. But that was pretty much the island.

Chuck/Robin/Nightwing had headed for the mountain, not sure at first of his intentions. He knew that, when the team first arrived, things were perfect. The island was empty and safe. But they never did explore those caves . . .

And that was that, to Robin. He was going to go looking through the caves. While walking along, he picked up a fallen branch. It was of a decent length and width, and of a good weight. He thought he might use it as a walking stick at times and, if necessary, as a weapon.

Not sure, exactly, what was before him, he took a deep breath and entered the first cave . . .

"And you're sure I shouldn't go after him?" Bart asked. "I mean, I could find him, in, like, two seconds and bring him back."

"No," Kon-El frowned. "Leave him be."

"But he attacked you!" Linda exclaimed. "He's gone crazy!"

"He's not crazy," Cissie frowned. "He's not . . . "

"If he attacked Superboy, he's got to be crazy," Linda continued. "We all know he's been acting strange lately. He's crazy! He's paranoid! A schizophrenic! And he doesn't want any of us to be happy!"

"No, I . . . " Cissie started. "I won't believe it. Robin's not like that . . . "

"He wasn't like that," Linda replied. "But now? Now, he is. And I think we owe it to him to go get him and make him better . . . or make him stop."

"Make him stop?" Bart asked. "What does that mean?"

Linda Danvers just looked into the eyes of the three around her, slowly but surely.

"You'd kill him?" Cissie asked, nearly exclaiming.

"I didn't say that," Linda said. "But this island . . . it's Paradise. And if Robin keeps acting like he is, you'll . . . we'll all lose it. Something needs to be done."

"Maybe someone just needs to try and understand him?" Cissie asked. "Maybe . . . maybe he does need help . . . "

"And you don't want me to go get him?" Bart asked again.

Kon-El kept quiet. He wasn't sure what to think. He took flight, gliding not high or fast, but up and towards the nearest beach. Once he was a bit away from everyone, he lowered himself down. He floated about a foot above the ocean's calm waves, not more than ten yards away from the beach. He crossed his legs 'Indian-style' and let out a deep breath.

His mind was working overtime, trying to recall everything he had just taken in. He and Robin had fought, physically, albeit briefly. Kon knew that, if it had gone on much longer, he quite possibly would have hurt Robin . . . hurt him bad. Robin had just gotten so under his skin . . .

But then he said something. He said . . .

"Check your . . . pulse."

That was what he said. What Robin said, just before leaving. Kon was too angry to do it with Robin standing there. But as Robin had turned away to leave, Kon put two fingers to his wrist and checked his pulse.

Kon had been breathing heavily; Robin had put him in a choke hold, and Kon could feel his heart racing. Only, when he checked his pulse, it was . . . well, he didn't know what it was, exactly.

That was why he had come out here, out into the peaceful ocean, away from any distractions, so that, now calm, he could check his pulse again. So, once more, Kon placed two fingers on his right hand to his left wrist. He closed his eyes and counted.

It was sixty-five now. It had been sixty-five then. His pulse rate was exactly the same in both instances. That didn't make sense.

Kon opened his eyes and looked about. The sun had just set. Gazing down along the coast, his eyes couldn't help but notice Sam and Jen out in the water, making love.

They're out there a lot. He's got stamina, I guess. I mean, I don't think I've ever . . . seen them on the island . . .

The thought hit him hard, like a sudden epiphany opening his eyes wider than they had gone in longer than he could remember.

I've never seen them on the island. When I wake up, they're out there, floating, having sex. When I go to bed, they're out there, in the exact same spot, doing the exact same thing. Now, all due credit to Sam, it's not physically possible to do that for that long . . .

They don't eat or sleep or move from that spot . . . ever. You'd think the tide would have some affect, but it doesn't . . . it doesn't make sense.

Superboy started to fly over towards the couple, deciding that invading their privacy, although regrettable, was something he was willing to do in this instance. As he got very near the two, his girlfriend, Linda, flew in front of him.

"Kon?" she asked.

"Linda!" Superboy said, a bit startled and coming to a halt. The two hovered above the water.

"I've been looking all over for you," she said. "I think we should go looking for Robin."

"You do?" Kon asked, trying subtly, unsuccessfully, to peer around her to the lovers.

"Yeah," she continued. "We need to find him and bring him back to camp before he does any more damage. We need to . . . to fix him."

"Fix him?" Kon asked.

"You know what I mean. I mean, for God's sake, he tried to kill you!"

"He didn't try to kill me," Kon frowned. "His attack had a specific purpose . . . "

"Which was . . . ?"

"He wanted me to check my pulse."

"Check your pulse?"

"Yeah."

"So he attacks you?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't he try asking you?"

"I . . . I don't know . . . "

"He's crazy," she frowned. "We've got to go get him."

"If you're so determined to go get him, why haven't you done it yourself by now?" Kon asked.

"Because we're a team, you and me," she answered. "More than Young Justice . . . you and I, we're lovers . . . soulmates. We're happy together, aren't we? I mean, you love me, right?"

"Of course I love you," Kon replied. "With all my heart. It's just that . . . I . . . "

"What is it?" Linda asked.

Kon looked about. Sam and Jen were far away again, as far as they had been when Superboy first had went out to float above the ocean. He looked back towards the beach, and he was in the same spot he had came from. It was like he hadn't moved at all.

"Kon . . . ?" Linda asked again.

He looked back at Linda, curiously.

"What is it?" she continued asking, looking into his eyes.

Only Kon didn't look back into hers. He was looking just beyond her, as the fire-like wings he was normally accustomed to her having began to grow. It was ethereal, not really there, yet he saw it clear as day. The wings grew into a large bird, encompassing Linda's whole body. In an instant, his mind was clear except for one bold, earth-shattering word:

Phoenix.

Chuck Barnes continued forward through the denser parts of the tropical jungle, getting closer and closer to the mountain.

"Keep going . . . " the voice told him. It wasn't just any old voice, though. He knew this voice. It was Cassie Sandsmark. It was Wonder Girl. The teammate that no one else seemed to know of or remember.

Chuck had long since ignored the possibility that he was insane. He couldn't be. Sure, the odds were against him; Only he believed in her existence, while everyone else on the island said she'd never existed. But he knew he was right. He had to be. His memories, his mind, they were not lying to him.

"But why?" he asked out loud. It was directed to himself; to Cassie; perhaps, even, to God. "Why am I the only one?"

"I tried to reach Kon," the voice replied, louder now. "Something's interfering . . . someone's blocking me, trying hard. I still haven't . . . pulled myself back together yet. Not fully, at least. But I'm almost there."

"So where are you?" he asked again.

"I'm inside you," she replied.

"Inside me?" Chuck asked.

"Yes . . . and no," she answered again. "I'm inside you . . . but you're also inside you . . . just in a different way."

"Are you talking about . . . my soul?"

"Not quite . . . like I said, I haven't figured much of anything out yet. After the shuttle, after everything that happened, I reached out to Kon, but . . . but there was interference. So I reached out to you . . . and found an anchor. A physical anchor, but . . . but not a mental one. You weren't . . . you weren't in your head where you should have been."

"I'm not sure I follow . . . "

"I don't really follow, either," Cassie said. "All I know is that everything is wrong . . . you guys, your memories, the island itself . . . "

"So I'm not crazy?"

"No," she said. "None of you are. I've been watching ever since I anchored myself to you. I've seen everything you've seen . . . unfortunately including you and Cissie having sex. I wonder if you can lose your virginity second hand like that . . . "

"I think we should change the subject," Chuck said. "We need to figure this out. I need you to tell me everything you can, everything you know. I was trained by the world's greatest detective . . . I should be able to put the pieces together."

"I don't know what to tell you," Cassie sighed. "Except that you're going in the right direction."

"Where am I going, exactly?"

"You're going to me," she answered.

"But . . . I thought you said you're inside me. That I'm your physical anchor."

"I did."

"Then . . . how am I going to you?"

"You're going to you, too," she answered. "We're both going to you."

"Should I pretend that this is making any sense?" he asked.

"Probably not," Cassie replied. "But with any luck, it should all come together soon . . . "

Chuck came to a small clearing in the jungle, the clearing that opened just before the mountain, tall and black, sloping up to the sky.

"It's the caves," Chuck said. "It's got to be."

"You've got to go in . . . deep," she answered.

"Alright," Chuck replied. He gripped his walking stick tightly and made his way towards the first cave entrance. He stood in its doorway and tried to look inside. "It's dark . . . almost completely black."

"You might want to try lighting a torch of some kind," Cassie said.

Chuck nodded. He took off the button-down shirt he was wearing over his wife-beater undershirt. He wrapped the shirt around his walking stick and tightly tied it, securing it. He reached a hand into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out the matchbook he had. "Y'know," Chuck thought, "I never really wondered how it was we came to have food and materials and clothes and, well . . . match books, when we landed on a deserted island. But right now, well . . . I guess I'm just lucky to have it all."

He struck a match and held it to his shirt, which slowly caught on fire. After a few moments of blowing on the fire to help it spread, Chuck soon had a torch in his right hand. Now satisfied with being able to at least see a little, he set off into the cave.

He walked down a path that was very hard to see for what seemed like hours. He knew it wasn't nearly that long, it was just the slow pace and the lack of light that made it seem so. He also had no real idea what he would find, if anything at all. He was silent, however. So was Cassie. All that remained now was moving forward, was getting to the bottom of whatever mystery was before him.

Things hadn't made sense since they came to the island. And he was determined to find out what was going on.

Eventually, he noticed a bit of light up ahead.

"Cass?" he asked. "You see that?"

No answer.

Chuck continued moving forward, with the light growing brighter as he approached. When he finally made it to the light, the cave had opened up into a huge chamber, dimly lighted with some sort of algae all along the cold, wet walls of the cave. As his eyes adjusted, Chuck look about the room, taking it all in. As he saw what was before him, his eyes went wide. He gasped.

"Oh . . . my . . . God . . . "